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Sumit SinghalSumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Pessac Pavilion in France by La Nouvelle Agence

The project is a 4m high sheltering roof located at the crossing point between the Pessac train station and the end of a tramway line going from Pessac to Bordeaux. The site is on top of a underground car park. Existing objects had to be taken into consideration : A pedestrian tunnel entrance, an elevator, an ventilation chimney.

The space under the roof is a place of waiting and meeting. The multiple columns needed to build the structure on the car park are organized around the existing obstacles, redrawing and organizing the lines from the tramway to the trains, the trains to the station etc…

Images Courtesy LNA / Benoit Schmeltz

The entire project is made out of local pine wood except for the steel column bases and a few structural beams linking the column heads together. This choice brings some sense of warmth and comfort in an otherwise mineral and monotonous environment.

Images Courtesy LNA / Benoit Schmeltz

We invited french artist Laurent LeDeunff to bring an additional semantic layer on the project. Five sculptures of bird heads are emerging from the column lines, some reassuring, some scary.